COLORADO: Senate Judiciary Committee Hears Civil Unions Bill Today

If a proposed bill to create civil unions is approved by the Legislature, Colorado will be one of four states that extend some marital rights to gay and lesbian couples while also explicitly barring those same couples from marriage. Charles Irwin, executive director of Colorado Springs Pride, said he is pleased with the civil union bill that is scheduled to be heard at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.But, he added, the bill is not perfect. “It still puts us in a second-class citizenship platform and plane,” Irwin said. “It’s sending a very clear message ‘you can’t have equality.’ ” In 2006, Colorado voters approved an amendment defining marriage as only between one man and one woman.Rep. Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland, who voted against civil union bills in committees the past two years, said he questions the constitutionality of the proposed bill. “The voters of Colorado have clearly said this is what we expect,” DelGrosso said. “How can you prove to us that what you’re doing is constitutional? That you’re not just changing the name of something and trying to pretend that it’s something that it’s not — same-sex marriage.”